I want to take some time here to appreciate the fact that there are incredible stories written within our landscapes, if only we have the eyes to read them. This is why I love the field of environmental sciences as a whole. They allow me to draw back the tapestry of the present and peak behind into the narratives of the past. Doing so reveals that Earth is a restless and dynamic system capable of tremendous activity: take for example the Manawatu region of New Zealand.
Driving through, it appears to be nothing more than your standard expanse of pastureland, maybe a few hills in there, a winding river, some small mountains in the distance, but mostly flat and grassy. Yet to comprehend the immensity of time and the multiplicity of events required to assemble these unassuming vistas is quite a task. For one thing, it wasn't long ago on a geological time scale that most of the Manawatu Region lay beneath the sea in the form of unconsolidated sediments. Its current expanse is largely due to the accumulation of these marine sediments and a progradation of the coastline. This is why it's so flat. The underlying continental crust of Zealandia isn't quite thick enough to buoy itself above sea level alone, especially as sea level today is comparatively higher than during past glacial periods.
As such, repeated marine transgressions and inundations subsequently emplaced a great thickness of mudstone, shale, limestone, marine gravels and the like. Gravel terraces are a common feature of the area but often go unrecognized because their vegetative cover or overlying layers of loess. The Massey University campus and Palmerston North itself sits atop such gravels. The Tokomaru Marine Terrace demarcates the former height of the shoreline; a huge distance inland from where it now rests.
The Manawatu River has likewise been an active agent of erosion and deposition for many thousands of years. It has incised and abandoned numerous floodplains, leaving behind another system of undulating riverine terraces. As its level rises and falls, the surrounding area feels its affects accordingly. Oxbow lakes, alluvial fans, in-filled swamps, etc. all owe their existence to this perpetual channel. The river even existence prior to the uplift of the axial ranges. These are some of the most rapidly rising topographical features in New Zealand aside from the Southern Alps. The Manawatu River, whose course crosses the ranges, has cut down through the hard greywacke rock as quickly as it has been thrust upwards to create the spectacular Manawatu Gorge.
At the top of the Ruahine and Tararua ranges, however, you'll still find those marine sediments previously mentioned. Rounded gravels, soft mudstones, etc. all compose a thin veneer draped over the more resistant greywacke. This makes the steep slopes susceptible to landslides and other mass movement failures, especially when saturated with rain. These loosened sediments are then carried away by the river to be deposited wherever it sees fit or to in-fill the coastal estuary, altering its morphology. There is even a massive dune-field associate with the Manawatu coast, the largest in New Zealand. But again, this is hidden by verdant dairy farmland
In short, what appears to be a static and perhaps even boring landscape actually carries with it a dramatic history of floods, erosion, massive uplift, marine transgression and other events that lie outside the typical human framework of cognition. With some effort we can learn to read and make sense of these events, thereby more deeply understanding our current place in things. This all stands testament to the extraordinary capacity that the Earth has for change. Nothing stays the same for long. It's the progression and interconnectivity of these processes that I find so perpetually engaging.
Of course, these ideas on dynamism can help us interpret the rest of our world even on a more human time-scale. Understanding the impermance and fluidity of life is a rather liberating experience. It is simply the nature of things, as anyone who has lived a few years can recognize. By contrast, it's often when we hold rigid expectations that things should stay the same that we do ourselves the most harm.
I just hope that this little example of the Manawatu region's geomorphology can help us all to grasp impermanence inherent in our existences. Learn to read the signs.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Thursday, October 11, 2012
100% Pure Denial
If there's one thing that I've learned since studying environmental science here in New Zealand, it's that the country has a dirty little secret. Despite the relentless marketing of a "clean, green New Zealand," this idyllic Pacific nation is in fact in the midst of a harrowing but unpublicized ecological crisis.
Since the arrival of Maori people and especially Europeans, the landscape has undergone massive upheaval. From a forest covering of roughly 80% this has been reduced to somewhere in the order of 20%. The lowland areas proved especially vulnerable, and almost all of the swamp-loving Kahikatea trees were uprooted in favour of a grass monoculture. This is truly where New Zealand's troubles began. After the furious logging of native timbers and clearance for pasturage, the land has become increasingly encumbered with exotic stock species such as the iconic sheep and all-important cow. Today these animals are the backone of New Zealand's export economy. Fonterra, the monopolizing dairy processing corporation, is the largest company in Aotearoa, rivalled only by communications giant Telecom. This economic reliance on stock, however, has brought about a host of environmental issues that only being exacerbated by current practice and policy.
Cows, of course, are prolific defacators and urinators. That means a huge amount of nitrogen is deposited directly onto the land in concentrations that natural nutrient cycling processes cannot handle. It either gets washed overland straight into water courses, or infiltrates the soil through to the water table; but either way the nitrogen ends up in New Zealand's many rivers and streams. The excesses nutrients facilitates massive algal growth, which in turn uses up much of the available oxygen that fish species need to survive. Fish can quite literally suffocate in extremely eutrophic environments; the effect is amplified in static lake habitats. But these nutrients, along with miscellaneous other industrial wastewater pollutants, have hit native stream fauna hard. The Manawatu River, which runs pretty much right past campus here, was recently classified as one of the most polluted in the Western world. This is a direct function of intensive dairying and also human effluent that is minimally treated before being released. Let's just say that the kids don't play by it's banks anymore.
Then there is the sediment. The clearance of native vegetation for pasture has destabilized a huge portion of our hill country and left it susceptible to routine erosion/slippage/failure. Our precious soils are being washed out to sea with every rain event. This wouldn't happen had forest cover been maintained. Once this sediment load is suspended within a stream channel, it only multiplies its adverse effects. Sediment reduces water clarity and forces whatever fish remain to hide in the gravel and substrate of riverbeds just to survive. Sediment also results in deposition and in-fill, raising the height of the stream and leaving already flone-prone regions (i.e. Manawatu) even more likely to be inundated. Where the rivers flow out to sea also is being choked with debris almost to the point of separation between ocean and stream. These estuarine habitats are crucial to numerous avifauna, both migratory and domestic who may feed or overwinter there.
As each of these ecosystems are modified further, there is less and less change of regenerating those species characteristic of New Zealand. A large proportion of flora and fauna here are endemic, meaning they occur nowhere else in the world. This alone should be enough to instill a strong ethic of stewardship, but many species have nonetheless gone extinct or found their way onto the critically endangered list. Our native fish, for example, receive no legal protection and yet are commercially harvested for whitebait fritters despite being classified as threatened. The juveniles are similar snapped up to be eaten as they fight their way back from the sea and up freshwater channels. What a great idea, right? Kill the young before they have a chance to reproduce and maintain population levels. Introduced trout, on the other hand, are tightly managed by innumerable Fish & Game councils. And that is a clear illustration of the problem. It's an economic one. Trout, despite being an exotic, is much more lucrative that tiny native Galaxias fish.
Habitat loss is almost always couched in terms of business development. New Zealand relies on primary, extractive industries that take from the land such as mining, forestry, farming and the like. Coal mines (operated by the state-owned resource company Solid Energy) recently killed off a species of giant carnivorous snail, Powelliphanta augusta, from its native range and today it only survives in holding fridges. Dairying as mentioned has eliminated vast tracts of podocarp-broadleaf forest habitat and thus the populations and communities associated with it. Exotic timber species such as Pinus radiata have since overtaken much of the middle north island. Wetland habitats have been essentially entirely drained away for farms. Basically New Zealand makes its money by marketing its natural capital overseas. This is not a sustainable business model.
On top of this, a number of unfortunate mammalian introductions have wreaked further havoc on native species. The possum is the classic villain, munching on native trees, native birds (even the beloved Kiwi), native snails, geckoes, weta, the whole lot. The blighters are aided also by weasels, ferrets, stoats, rats, pigs and so on. A saddening number of our native species are consequently restricted to offshore islands where these predatory species don't have access. These pests seem here to stay though. That means Motuweta isolata, the tusked weta, won't be returning to the mainland anytime soon; among the other castaways.
Even the introduction of the common wasp has been a massive detriment to New Zealand. They thrive in beeh forests at some of the highest concentrations in the world, feeling on the beech scale insect and its sugar-rich byproduct called 'honeydew'. Typically the honeydew goes towards feeding native birds such as Tui and Bellbirds along with geckoes and even some invertebrates. With wasps eating most of the honeydew though, it really puts a limit on the populations of those species and those that depend on them by extension.
Through its myriad problems, the country continues to run vapid campaigns such as "100% Pure New Zealand" that simply ignore the reality of the situation for the sake of the tourist or business dollar. Prime minister John Key, who should be quite concerned with the state of his country's environmental assets, has both given his support for further mining projects and flat-out dismissed the sciene that 90% of our rivers are below the standards for swimming/bathing. While there is legislation such as the Resource Management Act and government bodies like the Department of Conservation, they are too often hogtied legally, politically or economically into impotence. Even regional councils cannot be trusted to enforce the policies that are handed down for fear of crossing their residents. They have an awful record when it comes to enforcing violations of resource consents, and so the polluting goes on.
In short, the land that brought you Lord of the Rings is a lie. There are just as many, if not more, issues here than in any other developed Western country. New Zealand is not 100% Pure and is instead a dysfunctional assemblage of introduced species, primarily brought in for economic purposes. Hell, the possum was intentionally released in hopes of establishing a lucrative fur industry before that all got out of hand. Look where we are now. If New Zealand wishes to maintain its natural character, and it surely does, then it is going to have to shift its priorities dramatically and probably make some material sacrifices along the way.
A deeper issue even though, is that most Kiwis aren't even aware of these imminent and systemic problems. To them dairying is the best thing that ever happened and there is severe backlash for anyone who dares challenge its dominance. As long as it keeps bringing the money in, it's not going anywhere. There is a precedent, nevertheless, in the Lake Taupo region where taxpayers compensated farmers to limit the number of cattle they ran on the surrounding farms. This has helped keep the lake healthy and free of excess nutrient run-off. But this was an expensive endeavour, and not exactly feasible for the entirety of the country. The point is that there is hope and all it takes is a bit of critical thinking and initiative. After all, rivers (at least) are some of the easiest landscape features to clean because if you stop the input, they'll quickly flush out the remaining toxins.
Of course in the end, this article isn't to detract from the stunning beauty that Aotearoa does in fact possess, but nor do I want people to live under the illusion of a perfectly green and healthy land. Not all areas are being affected equally, that's a given. Peter Jackson still found enough scenery to film The Hobbit. It's the lowlands and rivers that have taken the brunt of the impact. Montane and alpine zones are still relatively free from human intervention, and while they look pretty that's not enough. There are problems here, but they are reversible if only people are willing to engage them fully. Now that we're aware of them, who wants to help implement some solutions? I for one want to see my adopted home country restored to its former glory.
Since the arrival of Maori people and especially Europeans, the landscape has undergone massive upheaval. From a forest covering of roughly 80% this has been reduced to somewhere in the order of 20%. The lowland areas proved especially vulnerable, and almost all of the swamp-loving Kahikatea trees were uprooted in favour of a grass monoculture. This is truly where New Zealand's troubles began. After the furious logging of native timbers and clearance for pasturage, the land has become increasingly encumbered with exotic stock species such as the iconic sheep and all-important cow. Today these animals are the backone of New Zealand's export economy. Fonterra, the monopolizing dairy processing corporation, is the largest company in Aotearoa, rivalled only by communications giant Telecom. This economic reliance on stock, however, has brought about a host of environmental issues that only being exacerbated by current practice and policy.
Cows, of course, are prolific defacators and urinators. That means a huge amount of nitrogen is deposited directly onto the land in concentrations that natural nutrient cycling processes cannot handle. It either gets washed overland straight into water courses, or infiltrates the soil through to the water table; but either way the nitrogen ends up in New Zealand's many rivers and streams. The excesses nutrients facilitates massive algal growth, which in turn uses up much of the available oxygen that fish species need to survive. Fish can quite literally suffocate in extremely eutrophic environments; the effect is amplified in static lake habitats. But these nutrients, along with miscellaneous other industrial wastewater pollutants, have hit native stream fauna hard. The Manawatu River, which runs pretty much right past campus here, was recently classified as one of the most polluted in the Western world. This is a direct function of intensive dairying and also human effluent that is minimally treated before being released. Let's just say that the kids don't play by it's banks anymore.
Then there is the sediment. The clearance of native vegetation for pasture has destabilized a huge portion of our hill country and left it susceptible to routine erosion/slippage/failure. Our precious soils are being washed out to sea with every rain event. This wouldn't happen had forest cover been maintained. Once this sediment load is suspended within a stream channel, it only multiplies its adverse effects. Sediment reduces water clarity and forces whatever fish remain to hide in the gravel and substrate of riverbeds just to survive. Sediment also results in deposition and in-fill, raising the height of the stream and leaving already flone-prone regions (i.e. Manawatu) even more likely to be inundated. Where the rivers flow out to sea also is being choked with debris almost to the point of separation between ocean and stream. These estuarine habitats are crucial to numerous avifauna, both migratory and domestic who may feed or overwinter there.
As each of these ecosystems are modified further, there is less and less change of regenerating those species characteristic of New Zealand. A large proportion of flora and fauna here are endemic, meaning they occur nowhere else in the world. This alone should be enough to instill a strong ethic of stewardship, but many species have nonetheless gone extinct or found their way onto the critically endangered list. Our native fish, for example, receive no legal protection and yet are commercially harvested for whitebait fritters despite being classified as threatened. The juveniles are similar snapped up to be eaten as they fight their way back from the sea and up freshwater channels. What a great idea, right? Kill the young before they have a chance to reproduce and maintain population levels. Introduced trout, on the other hand, are tightly managed by innumerable Fish & Game councils. And that is a clear illustration of the problem. It's an economic one. Trout, despite being an exotic, is much more lucrative that tiny native Galaxias fish.
Habitat loss is almost always couched in terms of business development. New Zealand relies on primary, extractive industries that take from the land such as mining, forestry, farming and the like. Coal mines (operated by the state-owned resource company Solid Energy) recently killed off a species of giant carnivorous snail, Powelliphanta augusta, from its native range and today it only survives in holding fridges. Dairying as mentioned has eliminated vast tracts of podocarp-broadleaf forest habitat and thus the populations and communities associated with it. Exotic timber species such as Pinus radiata have since overtaken much of the middle north island. Wetland habitats have been essentially entirely drained away for farms. Basically New Zealand makes its money by marketing its natural capital overseas. This is not a sustainable business model.
On top of this, a number of unfortunate mammalian introductions have wreaked further havoc on native species. The possum is the classic villain, munching on native trees, native birds (even the beloved Kiwi), native snails, geckoes, weta, the whole lot. The blighters are aided also by weasels, ferrets, stoats, rats, pigs and so on. A saddening number of our native species are consequently restricted to offshore islands where these predatory species don't have access. These pests seem here to stay though. That means Motuweta isolata, the tusked weta, won't be returning to the mainland anytime soon; among the other castaways.
Even the introduction of the common wasp has been a massive detriment to New Zealand. They thrive in beeh forests at some of the highest concentrations in the world, feeling on the beech scale insect and its sugar-rich byproduct called 'honeydew'. Typically the honeydew goes towards feeding native birds such as Tui and Bellbirds along with geckoes and even some invertebrates. With wasps eating most of the honeydew though, it really puts a limit on the populations of those species and those that depend on them by extension.
Through its myriad problems, the country continues to run vapid campaigns such as "100% Pure New Zealand" that simply ignore the reality of the situation for the sake of the tourist or business dollar. Prime minister John Key, who should be quite concerned with the state of his country's environmental assets, has both given his support for further mining projects and flat-out dismissed the sciene that 90% of our rivers are below the standards for swimming/bathing. While there is legislation such as the Resource Management Act and government bodies like the Department of Conservation, they are too often hogtied legally, politically or economically into impotence. Even regional councils cannot be trusted to enforce the policies that are handed down for fear of crossing their residents. They have an awful record when it comes to enforcing violations of resource consents, and so the polluting goes on.
In short, the land that brought you Lord of the Rings is a lie. There are just as many, if not more, issues here than in any other developed Western country. New Zealand is not 100% Pure and is instead a dysfunctional assemblage of introduced species, primarily brought in for economic purposes. Hell, the possum was intentionally released in hopes of establishing a lucrative fur industry before that all got out of hand. Look where we are now. If New Zealand wishes to maintain its natural character, and it surely does, then it is going to have to shift its priorities dramatically and probably make some material sacrifices along the way.
A deeper issue even though, is that most Kiwis aren't even aware of these imminent and systemic problems. To them dairying is the best thing that ever happened and there is severe backlash for anyone who dares challenge its dominance. As long as it keeps bringing the money in, it's not going anywhere. There is a precedent, nevertheless, in the Lake Taupo region where taxpayers compensated farmers to limit the number of cattle they ran on the surrounding farms. This has helped keep the lake healthy and free of excess nutrient run-off. But this was an expensive endeavour, and not exactly feasible for the entirety of the country. The point is that there is hope and all it takes is a bit of critical thinking and initiative. After all, rivers (at least) are some of the easiest landscape features to clean because if you stop the input, they'll quickly flush out the remaining toxins.
Of course in the end, this article isn't to detract from the stunning beauty that Aotearoa does in fact possess, but nor do I want people to live under the illusion of a perfectly green and healthy land. Not all areas are being affected equally, that's a given. Peter Jackson still found enough scenery to film The Hobbit. It's the lowlands and rivers that have taken the brunt of the impact. Montane and alpine zones are still relatively free from human intervention, and while they look pretty that's not enough. There are problems here, but they are reversible if only people are willing to engage them fully. Now that we're aware of them, who wants to help implement some solutions? I for one want to see my adopted home country restored to its former glory.
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